Struggle
by Temari of the Desert
Summary: Isn't it amazing how one action can lead to a whole different destiny? Naruto and Temari cross paths, and nothing is ever the same again. Angsty. Naruto x Temari. Not a oneshot! NaruTema
1. Arguments, Pondering, and The Mission

A/N: Welcome to the wonderful world of…not a oneshot. Amazing. Centers around Naruto, and most likely Temari too.

**Title: Struggle**

Summary: Naruto's going through a struggle to recognize himself, realizing that his real feelings are so different than the show he put on for everyone else… but nobody notices. Or do they? Most likely Naruto x Temari. Not a one-shot, multi-chaptered.  
Parings: Naruto x Temari, there might be other one-sided pairings  
Genres: Romance/Angst/Drama/General  
Rating: PG-13  
Warnings: Fluff, angst, possible violence.

**Struggle  
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**Chapter 1: Arguments, Pondering, and the Mission**

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Everyday was the same thing. Naruto awoke, feeling especially down. It felt like the villagers were getting crueler than ever… but he never let Sakura or Kakashi notice. He always arrived in his usual excited fashion, the sun flashing off the metal of his forehead protector.

But today, he didn't feel much like putting on the usual show for the rest of Konoha as the villagers looked down on him. But, as far as he was concerned, he didn't really have a choice… he'd probably feel better after a shower…

With these comforting thoughts in mind, he headed to the shower, putting the water on cold, letting it run down his body, waking him up in no time at all. With a small sigh, he turned on some hot water to mix with the cold.

'_Today is no day to just be lazy'_, he reminded himself. Today, they had a certain Suna kuniochi, Gaara's sister, coming to help them out with the mission. He didn't want to make a bad impression by being late… Kakashi already had that taken care of. One of the males had to show some responsibility, and he knew that Kakashi wouldn't, so he felt that he had to fulfill the role.

He washed the shampoo out of his hair and climbed out of the shower, drying off. He got dressed fairly quickly. Looking at the clock, he noted he still had enough time to go to Ichiraku's for ramen. So that's what he did, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he went. Lucky for him, Ichiraku's was indeed open. He didn't linger long though, strangely enough to the owners, he only ate one bowl, paid, and left.

He was early, and he had to wait for the others. Temari came along first, and seemed a bit surprised that only he was waiting. She joined him, waiting for the rest of the group to come. He wondered if she knew how late Kakashi always was. Probably not, seeing she came as early as she did. Even Sakura didn't show up until the exact meeting time, otherwise they'd be left waiting for even longer.

Naruto, who usually used this time to catch up on his sleep, was actually wide-awake. He sort of wanted to talk the kuniochi next to him, but he couldn't think of anything that didn't seem awkward. So he settled for the pleasant silence wrapped around the two.

That was, until the minutes dragged by. The temptation to talk while waiting for something he knew was going to take a long time was extremely overwhelming. So he started with a simple, "Kakashi-sensei won't be here for a couple more hours."

"…A couple more hours?" Her dark eyes turned to him, "But isn't the meeting time—"

Naruto cut her off nonchalantly, "He's always late. He'll make up some stupid excuse, we'll yell 'liar', he'll explain the mission, and off we go." He shrugged as if it wasn't abnormal in the least. It didn't occur to him that somebody would find an irresponsible sensei so…weird.

"…So that's why we're the only ones here?" She asked. It had been bugging her for awhile. In Suna, Baki-sensei was always there, ten minutes early. She went around five minutes early, Kankurou came around two minutes early, and Gaara came in with just enough time to spare so Baki couldn't yell at him for being late.

"Yeah. Sakura-chan doesn't show up until around the actual meeting time. Then we wait. For a long time." He kept talking in a voice that showed Temari he didn't care much about how long he had to wait. And today, he actually didn't. He was still in that lazy mood. He still didn't feel like putting on a hyperactive show. Why? Because what was the point? No matter how he acted, the villagers would still look down upon him for something he couldn't control. Not now, not ever. It wasn't his fault that the Yondiame had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him. It wasn't, it never would be. So, who was he? He didn't have the will to go on, for once in his life. Without that, who was he?

The silence fell between them, and a few minutes later, Sakura walked up to join them. It was one minute to the actual meeting time. Sakura mumbled something about having to wait and wasting daylight, as she stood next to Temari, leaning against the railing that was between them and the water.

10 seconds to meeting time. The trio wondered if the sensei would actually show up, or if they'd be waiting forever like always. They all guessed the last one; it was the most frequent. Actually, they couldn't name a time when Kakashi wasn't late.

1 second to meeting time. With a poof, a smiling Kakashi (guessed by the curves of the eyebrows) appeared in front of his team for the day. "Yo." He said, biting back an excuse for being late. Naruto and Sakura looked ready to yell out 'YOU'RE LATE'. But they stopped themselves.

Kakashi wasn't late.

"…Kakashi-sensei, is everything all right?" Asked a very concerned Sakura. Naruto could only look on in amazement and nod in agreement with Sakura. Temari just looked plain confused.

"Yes, everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

"…You're on time." Naruto said as if he didn't believe his own words. Kakashi's two students still were looking at Kakashi in amazement, like they hadn't ever seen him before.

"Oh, that. Well, I got up extra early this morning to make sure I made it on time. After all, we have someone else along today, it would be rude to keep her waiting."

"It's rude to keep ANYBODY waiting." Sakura pointed out. She was a bit upset that Kakashi never bothered to make it on time when it was just Sakura and Naruto, but when there was another person waiting, he made it perfectly on time. What was up with that! _'SHANNARO!' _Inner Sakura roared, _'He's going to pay for being late someday!' _

Kakashi began to explain the mission, but Naruto wasn't listening. He knew it was something about tracking down a ring of thieves through some villages. Kakashi and Sakura awaited Naruto's protest, but when none came, they both stared at Naruto. It took Naruto a few minutes to register the total silence, and the stares focused upon him.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to complain about the mission?" Sakura asked him, looking concernedly at the genin. The boy hadn't spoken since Kakashi had arrived, and hadn't protested on the mission. What was going on in the blonde boy's head?

"No."

"Why not?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No but—"

"But what?"

"Nevermind."

Sakura had thrown out of balance by Naruto's so simple answers. She supposed even Naruto could mature, but overnight? Something had to be wrong. What happened between yesterday and today? Maybe Sasuke was haunting Naruto as well. She really didn't blame Naruto for not being able to bring back Sasuke. It was her own fault; it was her own weakness. She hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from leaving, and she had pushed it on Naruto. If Naruto was punishing himself, it was her fault… and her fault alone.

The pink haired kuniochi rubbed her temples. She just wanted things to be the same again. She wanted Sasuke to come back home. She wanted Naruto and Sasuke to have their dumb arguments. She wanted to hear Sasuke's voice, even if it was telling her to go away or to stop bothering him. She just wanted Sasuke back at her side, and then Naruto would turn back to normal too. It all made sense.

Kakashi walked slightly behind the younger members of the team. Sakura was a medical specialist with Godaime's inhuman strength as well as high genjutsu talent. Naruto was the same as always, pushing all his opponents off with the Kage Bunshin, a plan, and his inability to admit defeat. He didn't know much about the blonde Suna kuniochi, Temari. He hadn't seen her fight since the 3rd test in the Chuunin Exam. Back then she had been strong in ninjutsu, but as Sakura proved, someone could change a lot in three years. Temari could be just as fearsome as the other two she was walking next to. This mission was going to be troublesome, the Jounin knew automatically. Why else had the Godaime wanted another Jounin to accompany them—A Suna Jounin no less?

Unlike the three around her that were laden down with thoughts about Uchiha Sasuke and the Temari's placement, Temari had only two things on her mind—Uzumaki Naruto, and the mission at hand. Temari was a straightforward person, she was more of the type that didn't like brooding on things that couldn't be helped. She didn't think about how she had been sent to assist a team of a Jounin, a Chuunin, and a Genin. She just didn't. The details of why she had been sent on the mission, at the moment, were unimportant. What was important was completing the mission successfully, and asking Gaara himself later why she had been sent. After a few moments of silence, she saw Kakashi looking at her, and all three of them seemed to be in their own little world. She sighed, she'd have to be the alert one since the rest were speculating.

She stopped suddenly when she saw something. It was just a fragment of movement, so small that she shouldn't even have had noticed it. But she had, and now that she had, she was curious—and completely alert. If it was human, it had to have been moving at that Lee guy's speed without his weights, if she remembered correctly. If that was true, then if that ninja was after them—if it even was a ninja—then they'd be in a bit of a mess.

There. Another fragment of movement. It was definitely a ninja, and it was definitely following them. At the moment, she decided that an 'act now, ask questions later' choice was definitely a good one. She took out a kunai quickly in slender fingers and threw it swiftly to where the ninja was hiding now. That drew the ninja out, and several kunai and shuriken flew towards them. Temari didn't have to even think at this point, her usual battle instincts were taking over. She opened her fan to the second star, and swung. The weaponry hovered in the air for a few moments before the wind died down, and the weapons fell down with a clank.

Sakura was immediately yanked out of her thoughts and was next to Temari, ready to fight. Kakashi had a kunai in his hand, but he seemed ready to leave the fight to the younger members of the group, probably to see what they could do. He after all, hadn't seen his two students in three years, and he hadn't seen Temari fight since the Chuunin Exam where he had entered Team Seven under his name. Naruto was just peering at where the kunai had landed. Somehow, the usual enthusiasm of fighting wasn't coming to him.

Temari was already in battle mode, and wasn't stopping. That went to show how different she had trained compared to the other two. At the moment, there was no such thing as patience or waiting for the ninja to reveal himself to them. She took out four kunai and four shuriken, four in each hand, and threw them at where the pervious weapons had come from. If he wouldn't come out as fast as Temari wanted him to, then she'd drive him out.

This is when the adrenaline of the fight finally spread through Naruto's body. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He made five of himself, and went to back up the females, who were engaging the ninja in hand-to-hand combat. Temari, who had been quite weak in taijutsu last time Kakashi had saw her fight, she was now more skilled. Obviously she had been training quite a bit, she had improved greatly since she was 15. Temari was now a bit more nimble, but she still relied on her fan as most of her power, swinging the closed form of the large solid with frightening precision.

The bunshins were maneuvering easily through the females to the ninja. When the girls had paused for a moment, to allow the bunshins to take over for a moment, to give themselves a break, the bunshins took over. The real Naruto was mixed in along the bunshins, and they started a large chain combo. One Naruto gripped the other's ankles, spinning then throwing him at the ninja. The Naruto barely missed the ninja, and swung around, landing on another bunshin, flipping in the air, throwing a kunai. The ninja dodged the kunai, but didn't see the real Naruto coming up behind. Naruto elbowed the pressure point on the back of the neck, and the ninja collapsed.

Kakashi closed his book, and looked down at the unconscious ninja, "Good job." He praised the three younger shinobi. "You took care of him easily." There was no particular hurry, so the Jounin didn't rush in pointing out that the ninja needed to be killed, not sent unconscious. He was sure that the other Jounin on the team would point this out in time, so he didn't need to mention it.

"…We should kill him." Temari said aloud. _'Right on time…'_ Kakashi thought, wondering how his two students would respond to her calm attitude towards the subject of killing.

"You do it." Naruto walked off, with the aura of brooding. Temari sighed, and rushed after him. And when she looked back, she'd wonder why she had done so. But after the two had left, it left Kakashi and Sakura with the job.

"Well, let's get this over with."

"What was that attitude about?" Temari questioned Naruto once she caught up to him, "If you're going to be a ninja you need to be able to—"

"Kill heartlessly?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why?"

"It's part of being a ninja. Didn't Konoha teach you that? Oh, wait. Most of your time as a ninja was during peace." She sighed, the shrugged, "Its no wonder you don't understand."

"And you do?"

"Well. Of course." She said without hesitation, "Besides that, I'm three years older than you. I have more experience with this sort of thing." As far as this Suna kuniochi was concerned, war forged outstanding ninjas. Peace forged crybaby ninjas. "You are one of the strongest shinobi I know. But yet, you're afraid to kill?"

"I never said I was afraid." Naruto snapped at her, getting defensive.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "So what are you saying? That you _didn't feel like it_? When you feel like killing someone, let me know." She turned and was about ready to head back to Sakura and Kakashi when she felt Naruto grip her arm.

"Don't mock me." He hissed at her. She had tore away at his confidence, bruised his pride, and deflated his ego. But yet he still couldn't feel any dislike for her… just mild anger at the fact she was mocking him. Telling him to tell her when he felt like killing someone. Just _assuming_that he hadn't killed that ninja because he didn't feel like it. She didn't have the right to make these assumptions. She just didn't.

"Then grow up, crybaby." She told him, pulling away from him. But he only gripped harder.

"I'm not a crybaby."

"Then stop acting like one. Nobody's going to look after you now that Uchiha Sasuke's gone." She hit a sore spot. Naruto let go of her arm, and stared at her retreating form. It wasn't until she had left that he realized that he should have told her that nobody looked after him, not even Uchiha Sasuke. But now it was too late. The older girl had already left him in his own thoughts. All he had been able to do was stare dumbly at her.

He would not let the girl make fun of him that way. He resolved to start working harder. He'd impress her. He'd show her that he was no crybaby ninja. But there was a small voice in the back of the head that whispered to him. Told him that maybe she was right.

By the time that Temari had returned from her little confrontation with Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi had already disposed of the ninja, and were waiting for the other two to return. The pink haired kuniochi looked on curiously as Temari walked up alone, and the silver haired Jounin didn't even attempt to hold back his sigh. The two must have had a little argument, Temari looked a little pissed, and he was sure Naruto would have a change in attitude as well. He didn't think the two knew each other well, but they obviously knew each other well enough to have some sort of argument. Sakura glanced at him, wondering if she should go after the boy, but she had no need. Naruto came into view only moments later.

Temari and Naruto didn't even acknowledge each other as the group gave each other the silent signal to continue on. Temari and Naruto stayed away from each other as much as possible, only talking to each other when it was absolutely necessary. Naruto had resolved that he'd show the Jounin kuniochi. He'd prove to her that he could take care of himself, that he was no crybaby ninja. Then he'd make her admit it. Admit how she had been wrong. It would be his turn to trample over her ego.

But somehow, these thoughts didn't give him any comfort. He didn't want to hurt her in any way. She was perfect. Deadly in battle, good with words, high intelligence, and good looks to go with it all. Somehow damaging that didn't make him get any pleasure. It actually made him feel a little guilty, guilty that he was thinking of hurting her in such a way. She had done it to him, yes, but that didn't seem to deserve any sort of revenge. Even if he did do it, who said it wouldn't become a vicious cycle?

But he'd still prove to her what he was made of. He just didn't allow himself to be underestimated. Especially when compared to Sasuke. He didn't need Sasuke—he didn't need anyone to look after him. And he was determined to show it.

Kakashi sighed at Naruto and Temari. They had been avoiding each other ever since the event he had code-named 'The Quarrel'. He often tried prodding at them with questions, trying to get them to have a discussion with each other, but each attempt failed. Sakura had also noticed the tension, but took a more subtle approach and tried not to get in between them in case they decided to attack—verbally or physically, it didn't matter. Sakura just didn't want to be caught in the middle, the two shinobi were definitely vicious.

The two other shinobi, however, were stubborn. Even when they arrived at the village for unsuccessful information gathering, what ever they found, they did not talk directly to each other, they instead, focused on someone else instead. But inside of both of them, they were beginning to get annoyed at their own immature actions towards each other. Temari wondered how long they'd last before one of them cracked—or they both cracked.

Kakashi looked at the group of shinobi assembled, "From what we've gathered so far, this village has yet to be a victim of the thief ring. Has anybody found anything of great value in this village? Something worth stealing?"

Sakura raised her hand part way, and began to speak, "It all depends what's worth stealing for that particular thief." She began, "But this village is well known for it's high quality silver goods." She pointed out, "If a thief was interested in jewelry, than this would be one of their stops. Do we, by any chance, have a list of past stolen items?"

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. Sakura was efficient and observant as ever. "Yes, we do." He passed a piece of paper to Sakura, who's green eyes scanned the page at a nice pace, taking in each bit of information. There seemed to be no pattern in the things the group stole. Various weapons, jewelry, valuable minerals and stones, scrolls, art, vases, pottery, silk… the list went on and on. This was a small ring, Sakura noticed almost immediately. The locations of the items stolen were all in a general area. _'This general area.'_ She observed, realizing why Kakashi had took them to this village, rather than any other. She also noticed that all the thefts took place during the more relaxed days of the week—Friday, Saturday, Sunday, with an occasional other day. Tsunade had made notes of certain dates—Festivals, celebrations. Distractions.

She passed the piece of paper on to Naruto, who scanned it only for a few moments before passing it on to Temari a bit hesitantly. Temari took more time reading and connecting facts than Naruto did.

Kakashi patiently waited for the observations of the three.

Finally, Temari spoke up; "It seems to be a small ring, focused on one general area." She said, handing the paper back to Kakashi.

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Exactly what I was thinking." Kakashi looked at both of the kuniochi. They were probably doing a great job of connecting the facts…but he'd have to make the girls elaborate a little to indirectly explain it to Naruto, the boy looked confused. But Kakashi didn't get a chance.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Naruto questioned. His question was more directed at Sakura than at Temari, but Temari answered first.

"Because all the items stolen were in this general area, and there aren't many gaps between the dates." She pointed out, "This ring is uncreative and haven't been masking their tracks. They're going to get caught." She sounded totally and utterly confident that the four-man team would catch the thief ring without much trouble at all.

Kakashi smiled, "Good, good. I heard that there was a fairly large group of people camping out near the village here. Temari and Naruto, I want you to go investigate. Be thorough." He said, grinning underneath his mask. The two shinobi wanted to protest, but they didn't. Without a word, they took off, side by side.

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8 pages and two lines. I hope that's long enough. And I think this chapter was most likely very boring. Oh well. I lose at life.


	2. Diamond

A/N: Chapter 2. Thank you to all the reviewers, the support is nice. 

Struggle 

**Chapter 2: Diamond **

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Temari and Naruto still refused to speak to each other as they watched the camp for any suspicious activities. Because of their childish argument, they hadn't agreed to leave yet, so they both continued watching. The temptation to talk was definitely overwhelming, since the silence was piercing into their ears, grinding away at their nerves. In fact, they focused on maintaining an angry attitude at each other that they didn't even sense the approaching ninjas until Temari had turned around and let out a gasp.

Upon Temari's gasp breaking the silence, Naruto whirled around. Why hadn't he sensed them? How could a group of five or six just sneak up on them?

The apparent leader began to speak. Probably giving demands, but Naruto was paying attention. He was getting ready to attack, but Temari put her hand in front of Naruto, blocking his way.

Temari gave the ninja group a nervous smile; "How about we just leave? There's no need for any fighting." Her smile faded, _'Shimatta!' _she thought, turning around, to have a fist meet her face. Once again the group of ninjas had fooled them—they had placed two ninjas behind them as they were distracted by the false negotiations. Temari had stumbled backwards, only to hit one of the other ninjas in the large group that they had discovered first. There was no way to avoid it, and the ninja sent her in the darkness of unconsciousness, with the final noise being Naruto's voice, "Temari! Hey! Let her—"

Temari awoke rather suddenly. For a moment, she couldn't remember what had happened. Then the blood running down her face caught her attention. So that's what had happened… she couldn't believe she let an argument with the idiot kid get her so distracted that they ended up in this situation. She, after all, was the Jounin. Wasn't she supposed to be looking after the genin? All of the sudden, she felt very ashamed of her actions. But she didn't dare do anything at the moment—they clearly weren't normal bandits—she assumed they were the bandits. Generally speaking, the camp members would not have attacked unless they had something to hide. She didn't know how powerful the group was. If it was a group of missing nins, they could be in some trouble.

That's when she realized that there was no way she could be in a camp. The place she was in was dark—too dark. It was like the sunlight couldn't reach here… Where were they? She strained her ears, but she couldn't hear anything. It was completely silent—had the bandits left them alone? She couldn't tell.

A groan from Temari's right signaled that Naruto had awakened. "Are you all right?" Temari whispered. She jumped; her own voice had startled her. The silence seemed less frightening once she realized that Naruto was here with her. Somehow, it was oddly comforting…

"…Yeah I'm doing all right." Was the muttered reply from the blonde ninja next to her, "You?"

"Just dandy," She said sarcastically, "My pride has been thrown to the ground and stomped on. Other than that, I'm okay."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. The girl next to her was actually admitting that she had made a mistake. Ever since he first met her, he figured that she was the cliché egotistical girl. But now he was starting to think that maybe she actually had a personality underneath her inflated ego. "That's good. How's your nose?" He asked, recalling the punch earlier.

"It's been better." She assured him, "But nothing big." She could feel dried blood underneath the fresh blood, which told her that her nose was still bleeding. Which, conveniently, meant they hadn't been here long, most likely. After deciding this, she checked herself. She wasn't tied in any sort of way. Were these people idiots? She wiped the blood away from her nose onto her sleeve. Through the gloom, she managed to make out Naruto's form, which gave her some more comfort, knowing she could locate him if need be. She slowly eased herself into a standing position, but sharp pains ran up and down her legs, causing her to grab onto Naruto's shoulder for support. Unfortunately for her, her legs gave out, and she collapsed on top of the other ninja, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

As Naruto hit the ground, all he could think of was how close she was too him. His surprised face staring up at Temari's flushed one. She rolled off of him quickly enough, and they both sat up again. So they weren't totally left unguarded—they had most likely done something to Temari's legs to make her unable to walk for awhile.

Almost absentmindedly, Naruto wiped the rest of the blood off of Temari's face and onto his sleeve. He hardly noticed her stiffen under his sudden movements. He was too busy trying to see through the gloom.

Almost too suddenly, something opened up above, and let light down in the room that Temari and Naruto were located. All around them were walls. Earth walls. They were underground. Peering above, the two blonde ninjas squinted, making out the pink haired kuniochi and the silver haired Jounin. With a lazy wave, Kakashi said, "Yo." The pink haired kuniochi looked down at the situation with a bit of surprise.

"How did you two get down here?"

"What do you mean 'how did we get down here'? We were knocked out and stuffed down a hole. I think you should show a bit more sympathy." Temari snapped half-heartedly. She reached up and grasped Sakura's hand and the other girl pulled the Suna nin to safety, catching a glance at her ankles.

"Temari, did you know you have needles in your ankles?" Sakura questioned automatically examining Temari's ankles, her face wavering between concern and professionalism. The medic didn't wait for Temari to respond. "Acupuncture. The placement of the needles is very precise; you shouldn't be able to use your legs." Then with no mercy, she yanked the needles from the other kunoichi's ankles.

Temari blinked. The removal of the needles hadn't hurt at all. The medic continued with the explanation, "These needles are covered with some sort of numbing liquid. You won't be able to walk for a few more hours, whoever did this was thorough. We aren't dealing with normal bandits. These bandits, with no doubt, have professionals on their side."

By this time, Naruto had pulled himself out of the dark hole he and Temari had been thrown into. He couldn't help but feel genuine concern for the other ninja that had been held captive with him. They only numbed one of the two captives, they weren't very smart, or they had run out of time, whichever didn't matter.

Naruto's voice came out in a bit softer tone than he's ever used, it surprised even himself, "I'll carry her."

Sakura looked at Naruto to Temari, then back to Temari again, "Well, I was going to have you do that anyway."

Temari couldn't hold back the smile that twitched at the corners of her mouth. With those three simple words, Temari knew that the childish argument was over. Carefully and gently, she felt herself being lifted up, into the Leaf nin's arms.

Later on, when they had checked into the hotel for the night, Sakura and Temari sat cross-legged on their beds, facing each other. Sakura was doing some form of interrogation on the older girl.

"I don't see why a Jounin could have just been ambushed like that. No matter how 'distracted' you were. They must have been good to hide themselves like that; they aren't just your everyday group of bandits. Which might be a reason why they haven't been caught yet." Sakura mused.

"I've already had my pride bruised, I don't it stabbed by you." Temari half hissed half sighed. Arguing with the pink haired girl was useless; she was stubborn and—at the moment—couldn't shut up.

Abruptly, Sakura changed the subject, "Can you feel your legs now?" her excited face had one again taken the professional look that she reserved specially for her work.

"Yeah." Temari absentmindedly rubbed her leg as she responded. It was a natural response; she had to make sure that she could feel her hand gently massage the tight muscles in her upper leg.

"Well, the best medicine for you at the moment is to get some good sleep. I doubt the trip down the hole was the best thing for your health."

"No shit."

Sakura laughed, and crawled under the covers, turning her back towards Temari, letting sleep overtake her.

Unlike Sakura, Temari didn't sleep as easily. Sleeping was never one of the things that came easily to the blonde kuniochi, she often found herself up and about at night, doing things she could do in the morning, but she just felt like doing them right at that moment. It wasn't a healthy habit, she knew, she had to be in the best shape possible for all of her missions—her failure to complete a mission on the plead of tiredness would not ease the shame at all. It actually made it worse, knowing she had screwed it up for herself. But even as she lay awake, knowing she was on a mission, she could not suppress the urge to retreat from the warmth of her bed and go to the roof, exposing herself to the air that was so cold compared to her native village.

With a sigh, she pulled the covers off of her, stepping on to the floor of the hotel room that she knew was her temporary home as long as they were observing this village. She hated admitting it, but nowhere ever felt like home—even her real home. Her real house was usually empty its inhabitants out on missions or doing various errands and chores, or even just hanging around on the streets. Everytime Temari entered the house, she felt like she was entering a house that she had seen often, but it was still surreal, like not her own. She could never figure out why this was. It was like something was missing, even though she couldn't imagine what it could be.

When she finally reached the roof, she let out a long, soft sigh, steam rolling out her mouth as she looked out into the darkness of the night. The sky was splashed with stars, a crescent moon hanging in the middle of it all, but yet, not in the middle of it all, it's silver light the only guidance. She had to admit it was pretty. She wasn't the type of person that sat drooling at the wonders of nature; she just didn't find any fascination in it. But even a person like her appreciated a nice night to relax.

"Can't sleep?" Asked a male voice, causing Temari to jump. But when she turned, all she saw was the blonde haired, blue-eyed boy who had saved her brother from himself.

"Something like that." Temari responded nonchalantly. It wasn't necessarily true, she could sleep perfectly fine, it's just her mind had overruled, deciding that this was something she had to do at this exact moment. But in another sense, that was not being able to sleep. "I take it you can't sleep either?"

There was a pause, then, "Kakashi-sensei has been laughing to himself for the past hour. I can't sleep while he's…" he trailed off. He wasn't even sure WHAT Kakashi was doing. But whatever it was, it was extremely annoying.

Temari laughed softly. Kakashi probably didn't even realize he was keeping up his student. The arrogant bastard probably didn't really care either. That was just the kind of personality the silver-haired Jounin had. He might act considerate, but from what she had seen, he seemed quite lazy, and he kept to himself, always reading that stupid book of his. It was annoying, but yet it seemed to be part of the sensei's personality. "I'm sure he'll stop soon." Temari assured the younger boy. Even the great Kakashi had to get _some _sleep, right? …right?

"I hope so." Naruto sat down on the edge of the building, allowing his feet to dangle over the side. There was one thing Temari noticed that was odd. The boy wasn't in his pajamas. He was in the black undershirt he wore under his jacket, and his normal orange pants. Had he even tried to go to bed? But as one side was questioning this, the other was telling that side to shut up, Naruto looked hot in black.

Temari wanted to slap herself. But Naruto was watching her, and heat rose to her face. To cover it up, she seated herself next to him, making sure there was quite a bit of space between them. Ever since this mission started, she realized, she had been acting weird. Weird as in not quite herself and she was sure she was the only one who noticed. It wasn't that her personality was any different, she wasn't exactly sure _what _it was that was so different. Just somehow, she had changed.

"Kakashi-sensei said that the camp we were looking at is gone. Gone, looking like it was never there." Naruto said suddenly.

Temari looked at Naruto with interest. "Sakura didn't say anything about the camp being gone." She had just figured they weren't going to do anything about it yet because they didn't know how many people were in the camp. That had seemed logical to her, but now she knew the real answer.

Naruto nodded, "It seems like they were the bandits we were looking for." He leaned back a little, "Kakashi-sensei figures most of them are missing nins. Especially since we were able to get captured so easily."

Temari winced. She hated admitting the stupid mistake of focusing on being mad at Naruto. And now it seemed so goddamn pointless because now they weren't even mad at each other anymore. "Yeah…"

"Glad to see you back on your feet. Looks like it was more effective than Sakura-chan originally thought." He said, squinting at her. Temari felt heat rising to her face again, not because he was looking at her, but because of her own weakness.

"It seems that it stayed in my body a little longer because my body is a bit smaller than most people at my age." She explained a bit hesitantly. It was true, even Naruto was now a bit taller than she was, and he was only fifteen. But she guessed it was okay, if he hadn't been, it would have been a little harder to carry her from the camp back to the hotel. She had been grateful that he managed to carry her all the way.

"That makes sense…" He answered, remembering a similar explanation Sakura had given him about poison, and how it spread in smaller bodies quicker. "Sakura-chan is a good medic, isn't she?" His eyes were practically sparkling.

Temari fought back the jealousy welling up in her chest. She didn't know where it came from, but all she knew is that when Naruto spoke of Sakura, he spoke with love, "Yeah. She is." She fought down all different emotions she was feeling right at that moment. She couldn't identify most of them, so why bother with them?

Naruto nodded, and finally stood up, with Temari's curious eyes following him, "I think we should get going inside. Somebody's going to realize we're gone, and we need sleep as well." He held out his hand to Temari. Temari had never had a guy do that before—and she had never seen Naruto do it to any other girl. But without much thought, she took it, and Naruto pulled her to her feet.

They walked down the stairs side by side, and parted at the doors of their room. With a small wave and quiet good nights, they headed into their rooms. Temari slipped in between the sheets, and only stared at the ceiling for moments before falling asleep, her mind at rest with the image of Naruto smiling at her with his hand outstretched.

Temari was rudely awakened as she heard the squeaking of the bed next to her. Sakura was getting up, she realized, with a bit of annoyance. She closed her eyes, wishing that she could fall asleep. But it was morning, and she knew that once she was up, there was no going back to the bliss of sleep. She heard the shower start, and she bolted to a sitting position. No wonder Sakura had gotten up early, she beat Temari to the shower. With a growl, Temari swung her feet over the edge of the bed. At the moment, she supposed she couldn't do anything about it.

Later on, after everybody had completed their daily morning routines, they met up outside the hotel. Kakashi was reading his book, per usual, and Naruto was glaring at him. Kakashi must have kept Naruto up for awhile after Temari had parted with him in the hallway. When the last person filed in, Kakashi shut his book with one hand, and turned to them, "We'll be doing scouting around the outside of the village today. The bandits picked up and left, so our job is to re-locate them." The one visible eye stared at Temari and Naruto, making the two younger shinobi a bit uncomfortable. "We'll split like we did before. Temari and Naruto as one pair, and Sakura and I will go as the second pair." He took out a map, "We'll take this side, you two take this side." He pointed as she said so.

The three shinobi before him nodded. When he gave the signal, they all disappeared.

Kumori stared at where the Konoha ninjas had been. The four of them could pose problems no doubt. But what was interesting was that one of them had been from Suna. What were the hotshots in Konoha thinking, sending three Konoha ninjas and a Suna ninja? Interesting.

What was even more interesting was that two of them he knew he had put down in that hole. He had been thorough with making the Suna girl unable to use her legs…it was interesting that they had a medical nin on their side. How else could they have managed to get out of that hole?

This was an interesting group indeed.

The day was incredibly boring. There were no signs of the bandits anywhere. Temari and Naruto agreed that they most likely had retreated to the crowds of the village. But having that assumption didn't help anything, they couldn't find a whole camp of bandits in the middle of a village. Besides that, they didn't know how many bandits there were.

Kakashi stood in his usual lazy manner, one hip holding more weight than the other and his usual book in one hand, "Either the bandits left this village, or they've hidden themselves among the citizens here. If it's the last one, then we'll never be able to find them all."

Temari frowned, "Are you saying that we need to lure them out of the village with something so valuable they can't ignore it?" The blonde kuniochi asked, her dark eyes holding some cross between curiosity, excitement, disapproval, and worry. Eventually, the excitement and curiosity overruled all others.

"Precisely."

Sakura bit her lip in concentration, "I heard the largest diamond in the world was going to be shown off at the village not too far away from here. Isn't that a possible stop?"

"No." Temari answered almost immediately.

"Why?" Sakura asked, confused.

"The largest diamond in the world is how big? And how heavy?" She questioned. Sakura could only shake her head in amazement, "Exactly. How is any bandit going to make off with that large of a stone?"

"I think Sakura has the closest lead yet." Kakashi shifted his weight boredly, "Even if what Temari says is true, it's still something we should look into." The three nodded in agreement, and Kakashi spoke again, "Sakura, you need to help me spread the word about the diamond throughout the village. Temari, Naruto, you two need to post yourselves near the entrance of the village that's displaying the diamond. Watch for any suspicious activity, then stay close to the diamond. Don't ever let your eyes off of it. Go now."

Naruto and Temari nodded, and disappeared, and reappeared a little ways off side by side, running off to the village with the diamond display.

Sakura shook her head in disbelief, "What kind of idiot would display a priceless diamond when there's a ring of thieves around?"

Kakashi shrugged, and began spreading the word with the help of Sakura.

Kumori looked annoyed. The group of ninjas were very determined to catch them. They were doing a good job of predicting their moves; all their guesses so far were accurate. Even to the point where they knew where the group was heading next.

But this was a good opportunity to find out more about the group that was after them. He couldn't really pass up this chance. He knew exactly how the group was acting, the group knew exactly how they were acting. But they didn't know who they were… this could be a good form of trickery…

Kumori laughed under his breath. This was going to be a very interesting event. Just the thought of it was getting him excited…

Temari's gaze never left the large diamond. It was definitely big, but not as big as she would have imagined. It wouldn't be TOO hard for a bunch of ninjas to make off with it. Which made her watch it even more carefully.

Then felt a warm breath on her neck. She was standing in the middle of a crowd, she knew she shouldn't have been as disturbed by it as she was, but she knew there was something wrong. Something terribly wrong and her fears were farther proved when the person, who was breathing on her spoke, his voice was cold and hard, "I heard you were looking for the bandits. If you make one wrong move, I'll kill you all. Stop pursuing the bandits, and I'll spare your lives."

Temari froze. Her whole body just tensed, she caught her breath. A ninja wasn't supposed to fear anything right? Well, the rules and principles she learned at the academy were a jumbled mess of words that didn't make sense anymore. The rules and principles taught to academy students didn't apply to real life situations.

She spun around, only to see nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, anyway. Her eyes darted around, looking for a retreating figure, but nothing was visible through the mass of colors and bodies. She pushed her way through the crowd, her heart pounding. She didn't even know what the person looked like, but judging by the voice, the person was a male. The only thing she could assure herself was once she saw him, she would know it was him. But even that, was a lie.

It was like the whole world was crashing down on her. She had to find this man, and she knew she had to. It was like a pressure coming from an unknown source. She pushed and shoved until she made her way to a deserted street. She then realized that she had lost whatever she had been hoping to find. Even worse, she had lost Naruto in her haste in getting through the crowd.

Naruto probably wasn't even watching the diam-….

The diamond!

Then it clicked. Was this a trap to get them away from the diamond? She had to get back to the diamond. She shoved and pushed through the crowd, but the crowd seemed thicker and less willing to let her through. Some even yelled at her, and whispers of her being rude followed her. She couldn't get back to the diamond, the crowd was too thick.

Then as the crowd silenced, and stared at the diamond in wonder, it disappeared in a flash. Temari knew what had happened.

She turned around and started shoving through the crowd to the only exit from the village. Behind her, the crowd went into an uproar of panic. She was jostled around, but made it out safely. She only looked back once to see if Naruto was following her, but there was no sign of the blonde.

She'd have to continue alone from here on out.

Speeding up, she slid in front of the entrance. Sure enough, the ninjas were making a break for it. She couldn't hold them all back, but she could sure as hell get the diamond back. Or should she even try? At the moment, following them seemed to be a much better idea. Her job was not to get the diamond back, it was to capture the thieves who took the diamond. Same thing, right? Wrong.

If she wanted to keep the ninjas inside the village, she'd have to close the large doors. They must have weighed about a few tons each, she couldn't possibly move them by herself.

Then she heard the voice again. This time its tone was full of mock laughter, "I think you'll find that you won't be doing anything to stop us."

"What makes you think that?" She fought down the fear rising in her voice, and the words she spoke came out strong, stronger than she felt.

"Because if you look over there…" his cold finger touched one side of her neck in a directional guidance, making her head turn to that way, "You'll see the answer to your question."

Her heart stopped.

Not literally, but it could have. Seeing the motionless Naruto, blood running thickly down the side of his head was a bit shocking.

All the things she was taught were suddenly fading away. Everything she was taught would have told her to stop the thieves even if it meant risking Naruto's life. But her concern for Naruto's well being was stronger than that.

"Drop the kunai in your hand."

Hesitantly, Temari released the kunai she had been clutching so desperately and let it drop to the ground.

"Good. Now you're going to let us leave with the diamond. Nod if you understand."

Slowly, Temari nodded. The man behind her snapped his fingers, and abruptly, Naruto was tossed into her arms, and the bandits disappeared.

Temari shook Naruto gently, like she thought he was merely sleeping, "Naruto…hey Naruto, wake up." She wasn't a medical nin, she didn't know exactly what to do. But she knew that shaking him and begging him to wake up wasn't going to work. She leaned down and pressed her ear against his chest, listening for a heartbeat.

It was normal. She frowned in confusion. How could his heartbeat be normal?

"…what are we doing out in the middle of street, Temari?"

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A/N: Ten pages. In your face. Review.


	3. Smoke

A/N: Numba1- It seems I didn't make it clear exactly how many people were there when Naruto got attacked. We're talking like 400 or more people, many probably ninjas. So, when Naruto got attacked, the person didn't have to sneak up on him at all. So there would be no 'detecting'. As for Temari, I don't really think she was caught of guard the second time. She just kinda gave in. As for her choice, I kind of think it would have been right anyway. There were too many for her to take on at once.  
As for Temari's feelings for Naruto, at the moment, I think it's a bit more of friendship at the moment than love. But that's my opinion, it might seem different to someone else.  
Also, a few other things will be revealed in this chapter that'll make some other things more clear.

I hope that cleared up a few things.

Struggle

Chapter 3: Smoke

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Bastard. Lucky bastard. He was so blissfully unaware of what had just taken place. But, she couldn't be mad at him for being captured and letting the diamond get out of their sight. She just couldn't. With a blush, she pulled away from the shinobi's chest. "You idiot… you're an idiot, you know that right?"

"Glad to know you care." Naruto responded, noting his position in her lap. She was holding him against her, while sitting on the ground. The position was a bit awkward, but it proved that Temari had clearly believed he was in danger.

Pushing Naruto off, making him sit on the ground, she examined the head wound. It wasn't fatal, it seemed, but it was still bleeding. With a thoughtful frown, she pressed her sleeve against it in an attempt to stop the blood.

"You're not like Sakura-chan." He said suddenly, feeling the pressure of her hand against his head. Having her there was oddly comforting.

"How so?"

"Well, you're medically impaired," he began, earning a glare from the older girl, "You're a bit egotistical, but you've got a attitude that Sakura-chan doesn't. And you're just…different."

"Yes, well, I'm a different girl than Sakura. Raised differently, trained differently. Everything is different." She responded, ripping off the cloth from her headband. With a sigh, she tied it around his head and tightened it, attempting to suppress the blood-flow, "Did you expect me to be like Sakura?"

"No, not really. But it's not just your personality…you're just…different." He didn't want to explain it anymore. How it he felt differently when she was around than when Sakura was around. He just didn't want to explain it anymore.

"That was a bit easy." She said, changing the subject.

"What was?"

"Tricking them."

"Tricking who?"

"…. Forget it." Temari sighed.

"No, I really want to know."

"The bandits." Temari began, "It would have been extremely stupid to go after them by myself. They outnumber me, and might overpower me too. So, instead, I decided to use this." She pulled out an explosive note; "It'll explode after a certain amount of time. It's more noise than anything else, but the sound should travel a long ways. And if they hide in a forest, it'll most likely catch the forest on fire, which will be a big help."

"When is it supposed to go off?" Naruto had left all hopes of Temari's medic skills behind and started taking care of his own head wound.

"Any minute now, actually."

Kumori grinned. It was getting interesting. The girl had managed to get that explosive note on him without him noticing. He was going to let it go off, actually. If the ninjas found them, it'd be interesting—he longed for excitement. And this situation was just perfect.

He had to hand it to the girl though. If it had exploded on him, his clothes would have caught fire. Naturally, he'd try to smother the flame, and that would lead the forest floor to get on fire—the trees and ground were dry. This region hadn't had rain for a long time, it wouldn't take long for the fire to spread across the forest floor and catch trees on fire. A brilliant plan indeed, but it was risky for her. She'd be responsible for all the damage…it wasn't very practical, but it worked.

The girl was no threat, most definitely, but the blonde boy they had managed to knock out. Keyword: Managed. The boy put up quite a fight—as much as one could when anything he did could injure or kill innocent bystanders. But there was something odd about the boy. Everytime he thought about it, the maniacal grin he had faded to a frown. The boy was going to be a threat; he could feel it in his bones.

With one last grin, he let go of the paper and let it drift to the ground. Just as it hit the ground, a deafening bang pierced through the air, echoing for many miles, and then, slowly, as the paper began to burn, the forest floor caught on fire.

There was no need for the two to be told twice, once the very loud bang had reached their ears, they were off. They couldn't tell which direction it had come from, but they pinpointed a general area, and prayed that the trees would catch fire soon. They didn't have wait much longer. Up ahead, smoke rolled out from the forest. It wasn't necessarily a big fire, but they'd have to take advantage of it while it lasted. A fire could be put out almost as easily as it had been started.

"What was that?" A worried Sakura asked, as a loud bang echoed along. It didn't ease her worries when she saw puffs of smoke float up lazily in the distance. But despite her worries, the silver-haired man next to her just waved her off.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura. I'm sure it's nothing. Even if it is, I'm sure Temari and Naruto are on it."

"But that's what I'm worried about! Don't you think we should go? Y'know, for back-up?" Sakura's green eyes scanned the distance, her fingers laced together against her chest.

"No I don't."

"You're just trying to get out of working!" Sakura accused him; "I don't even know how you got to be a sensei—"

"Sakura, be quiet. Sometimes, you have to wait awhile before taking action." Kakashi's fierce tone had silenced the pink haired girl, but she still eyed Kakashi with concern flashing in her green orbs.

Naruto couldn't help but think about all the bandits that could be there, waiting for them. Perhaps they had caught Temari's trap? Should they back off? He turned to her, but she seemed confident and egotistical as ever. She'd call him a coward if he told her they should back off… he didn't want that, but he didn't want to head into something that they couldn't handle. Temari had a straight head, did she know something he didn't? It was too late to ponder this any longer as the flames came into view.

The two ninjas dropped down near the flames, the smoke creating something like a veil around them. Temari glanced about quickly, calculating. People could die from smoke inhalation, she knew. "Naruto, come on." She hissed, "We need to get out of this smoke." She put her sleeved hand over her mouth in an attempt to filter the air.

Naruto nodded, mimicked her, and edged through the smoke. Now something like a smoky mist settled down lowly, putting a haze over the scene. It was hard to see everything was like a shadow. But was mist real, or was it genjutsu? Temari had a hard time telling. Maybe some of it was real, then there was some genjutsu mixed in. Either way, both of them needed out. They needed out _now_.

Temari then looked around. The shadows were all the same. Which one was Naruto? Panic began to run through her, until she calmed herself down. The other shinobi was smart enough to find his own way out, right? Maybe he already had. Now that the blonde wasn't around, her main priority was to get out of the mist, if she could.

Naruto looked around in the smoky mist. Temari was nowhere in sight—the shadows of the trees looked all the same. Even if one was Temari, he wouldn't have been able to tell. Where had she gone? Maybe Temari was right next to him? Should he call for her? So many questions with no answers. He couldn't just leave the smoky mist—what if Temari was in trouble? "Temari!" He called out weakly. It earned no reply, and slowly, he went on, his eyes straining to see through the fog.

Temari automatically went alert when she heard her name. It sounded like Naruto's voice, from far away. Was he still in the thick fog after all?

Then it hit her. It was so obvious. So obvious it hurt her to think that she hadn't thought of it before.

This was nothing but smoke. Genjutsu or not, it was still smoke. Smoke went wherever the wind told it to. She'd just have to cause a storm.

Taking her fan off her back, she made a powerful, defiant swing.

Naruto blinked as the fog cleared. It was moving fairly fast considering it had been dead still beforehand. What had happened? Then he remembered that Temari was a wind user. Had she created wind power enough to drive away the smoke? He hoped so.

Either way, he could remove the sleeve from his mouth and look around freely. It looked like he hadn't moved at all. The fire was nearby, but the smoke was going in a different direction. Well, that solved the inhalation problem. But he still couldn't see Temari. She must have gone somewhere else. Wherever she was though, he'd have to find her. Working alone right now was probably dangerous.

"You had a clever plan going for awhile. But everything is going to end here." It was the chilling voice she had heard in the crowd. It was the voice that had threatened Naruto's life back near the gates.

But instead of feeling afraid, Temari couldn't help but smirk. She had a feeling that today, she'd have the best fight of her life, and it was going to be _fun_. Feeling bold, she sent a remark right back at him, "Yes. Here it's all going to end. The ring of thieves, the jokes, the plots. Everything."

Kumori smirked right back. This girl had spunk. He liked the feisty ones. It made things so much more interesting…

"Dammit all! Where the hell is Temari!"A frustrated blonde hissed aloud. At the moment, frustration was reaching its peak. He couldn't find his kuniochi partner, and there was no sign of the bandits. Over time, he began assuming the worst. Maybe they had taken Temari, or maybe they killed Temari and left.

Kumori might have been smirking on the outside, but in the inside, he was concerned. Not overly concerned, but concerned. He had to finish off this kuniochi before blonde haired boy came and ruined things for them. With no time to waste, he hastily began his rain of taijutsu attacks.

Sakura stared at Kakashi as he read his usual book. It had been at least 20 minutes since they first saw the smoke and heard the bang. But Kakashi was still insisting that they wait that things weren't as bad as they seemed.

But all the waiting was getting Sakura frustrated.

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A/N: Bleh. It's done. Shortest chapter yet. It'll be longer next time, promise.


	4. Uzumaki Naruto's Grand Entrance

A/N: **Numba1:** Don't get me wrong either. I like the questions. Probably a bunch of people are wondering the same thing, and it's good just to clear it all up. So let's begin.  
**Kumori-** I worry about OC characters all the time. I'll probably rewrite the fight with him several times. I'm also worrying about how powerful I'm going to make this character, what his weaknesses are and such because Kumori isn't _supposed _to be an all powerful character. I don't like perfection in characters—which may also be a reason that Temari and Naruto seem a bit weak. Well, that might be a flaw as well as a good thing in my writing. As for how he's worried about Naruto, it has nothing to do with the Kyuubi.

**Kakashi- **I'm wary of Kakashi. I try to avoid using him at all costs—but in this case, it was unavoidable. I agree that he seems a bit out of character in some ways, but in other ways, I just see him putting faith in Naruto and Temari. But, then again, as I said in my previous chapter, what I think may seem different to someone else. I agree totally with what you're saying. I've sort of realized this, but he's not exactly _unworried, _he's just not as worried as Sakura is. Then again, females are more open with their worry than males are. But let's not get into that. Kakashi is a sort of a mysterious character anyway; I find it a bit hard to see how his mind works, even with the knowledge of Obito. I try to keep everyone in character, and it has to fall apart somewhere—Kakashi just gets the short end of the rope.

**Temari and Naruto's Relationship- **Ugh. Where do I begin? I don't really think I'm getting into a romance type thing, and it's been bugging me for awhile. But you've mentioned both times that it's been developing a bit fast. Maybe I'm imagining things? If so, I'll try to slow down a little. Fast developing relationships aren't very enjoyable to read, are they? Sorry about that. But truth be told, I still see it as more of a friendship set up for a romance. Maybe I'm weird. But then again, I already knew that. Another reason is that I don't see this fic going on for more than 6 chapters. It might go on longer, it might go on less than that. Maybe that's why it seems to be developing fast.

**Struggle**

Chapter 4: Uzumaki Naruto's Grand Entrance 

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"Come on, Sakura. Time to go." He closed his book with a snap, and pushed himself off the building he had been leaning against. His eye gazed off in the direction of the smoke as he shifted his weight so one leg was holding more than the other.

Sakura immediately came to attention. "We're going?" She asked hopefully, her brilliant green eyes darting to the area of the forest where the smoke was coming from.

"Something like that." He looked at the area of smoke, "If Temari and Naruto went to investigate, then most likely the thieves escaped through the northern route of the forest. We should meet them there, don't you think?"

Sakura blinked. Had he been waiting for _that _the whole time? That seemed uncalled for; she felt anger building up inside of her chest. She wanted to strangle the slow moving sensei. But she didn't. As much as she didn't want to admit it, he was probably right. Temari and Naruto would be fine on their own, and the mission was at risk. But even as she thought this, there was a sinking doubt in the pit of her stomach. Teammates always came first, right?

She was slammed back to earth when Kakashi took off, leaving her alone. Her green eyes widened, and quickly, she took off after him.

Temari watched Kumori warily, holding her fan out in front of her in a defensive position. Her intuition told her that things were not stacked in her favor, she had to play smart if she wanted to get anywhere with this. She had no idea how strong he was, what jutsus he used, and how good his observation skills were. This was going to be a good fight, and just thought of it made her lips curl up into an anticipating smirk. She hadn't been this excited to fight for quite a long time; it brought back some old emotions she had almost forgotten about.

When it became clear that Kumori was not going attack first, Temari immediately threw herself into action. Not wanting to give too much away; she settled with simple taijutsu at the moment. It wasn't her specialty, but that didn't mean she didn't have any skills for it. She gracefully swung her still closed fan, aiming it precisely for the side of his skull. As she had anticipated, she missed. But she didn't stop the attack. Spinning so she faced him, she lifted her right foot and thrust it outwards, hitting him cleanly in the chest. Kumori stumbled back, the wind knocked out of him.

Temari sensed an opening. She clenched her nails against the hard surface of her fan, and swung its closed form firmly into Kumori's side. When he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Temari's eyes widened. When had he replaced himself? She closed her fan in a rush, and returned to her defensive position as her eyes scanned the area, her ears straining for any little sound that might give a clue to Kumori's location.

Ah. Sharp as ever.

Whirling around she blocked a kick aimed at her. She flung him away by pushing against him with her body weight. With one swift motion, she had all three stars exposed. "Time to die." She spoke more confidently than she felt. "Ninpou Kamaitachi." She muttered, knowing full well that the attack wouldn't kill him. Stun him, maybe, but definitely not kill him.

Poof. Smoke. Another kawarimi! "Who do you think I am! I'm not going to fall for that more than twice!" She yelled out, her voice ringing through the forest, a tone of rage mingling with her voice, "You can't beat me!"

"Watch me." Kumori whispered lowly in her ear. She spun to react, but he managed to knee her in the stomach before she could activate her own offensive.

No. She wouldn't loose this way. Not this pathetically. She was still in the game. She had to be, for the sake of her own dignity, and maybe even her life. She quickly got to her feet and prepared for defense. She blocked a kick, dunked out of the way of the punch, rolled to the side to avoid another well-aimed kick. This wasn't even a battle anymore. It was more of Kumori's well-aimed taijutsu against her swift dodging.

Neither side was giving in; and neither was prepared to lose.

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Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Temari's voice. He had heard it. At first, he thought he as going crazy; the smoke getting to his head. But it had rang out again, just as clear as before.

"_You can't beat me!"_

There was no mistaking her voice for anything else. He had to hurry though; it sounded as though she was in a fight. And losing, by how bruised her pride sounded. He had to get there, and he had to get there _fast_.

The problem was finding his way out of the thick smoke.

Well, if he couldn't get rid of the smoke, why not see over it?

-----

There was a large crash in the distance of hundreds of trees being destroyed all at once. Temari had only turned her head in that direction for a split-second. Before she knew it, Kumori had struck like lightening

Temari stood up again, a large red mark on her cheek where his fist had contacted flesh. There was no way in hell this could be happening. This punk couldn't be stronger than her. There was absolute no way. But by the way things were looking now, she should just kiss her dignity—and her life, goodbye.

But she didn't.

Nah. Temari never was the quitter type. She merely raised her fan in a defensive position and resumed the relentless dodging, waiting for the perfect moment to strike quick and deadly, like a cobra.

But when she went to block another attack, Kumori was sent flying off to the side. It took Temari a few moments to register what had happened, before turning to see what had caused it.

"Uzumaki Naruto's grand entrance!"

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	5. Plan! Failed

A/N: Here we go again. Thanks to the reviewers (just a list): Naru-Rin, Master of Anime, Half-Devil, Zero-Vision, Ryuusekei, Envykicksbutt, the dark icon writers, Ranko, Numba1, Keikun4283, BrittRasetra, Comic ravager, Shinku Naito, Uozumi, Cail Jol, Crazywhiteguy, CommandoDude, PGW-Chaos, Awey, The PhantomHokage, Naruto, Patch5129, OneWithoutEyes, Mikeee.

Struggle 

**Chapter 5: **

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"Uzumaki Naruto's grand entrance!" Naruto kicked Kumori hard in the side so he could get a chance to turn around and talk to Temari. He was grinning ear from ear, "The hero always comes to save the damsel in distress." His face then turned serious, "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Temari shook her head lightly, blinking slightly at Naruto's sudden entrance, "…how did you find me…?"

"It's easy to navigate the forest once you get above the smoke." Naruto responded with another grin, "The Kuchiyose, of course." (Kuchiyose Summoning jutsu). He's boyish face was still upwards in a large grin, one that only resulted in Temari smiling. He turned to fight Kumori, but Temari's temper flared.

'_The only reason the had come was because he doesn't think I can take care of myself!' _Temari thought angrily. She placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "This is my fight, Naruto. Back off." Her voice was hard, deadpan as she spoke the words to make him back off her fight. This was _her _fight, and she wasn't going to let anybody get in the way—not even Uzumaki Naruto.

"But Temari—"

"I said _back off_." She growled out, anger evident this time. Naruto looked a little shocked at Temari's sudden anger spurt, but said no more. Every other girl he had come to save usually liked it. But not this one, she actually acted like Naruto had offended her. He wanted to speak, but nothing sounded good enough; Temari was now stepping out, in front of Naruto, ready to continue fighting.

Someday, Temari swore she'd die from being so goddamn stubborn. Whether she liked to admit it or not, Naruto had really helped by coming, but her pride wouldn't allow room for help as long as she could still fight back, and she still had plenty of fight left in her.

------

Sakura waited patiently with Kakashi as they hid in the northern forests, waiting for the arrival of the bandits. Kakashi had set up a genjutsu, and if his assumption were correct, they'd walk right into it. This was their best chance at taking on any large number of thieves—and by what they had encountered, some pretty strong thieves.

Ah, here they come now… Sakura craned her neck to see the group better. They were walking right into the genjutsu; she didn't have to do anything. She sighed in relief and leaned against the tree trunk. That was, at least, until she felt a strong gust of wind. She turned quickly; a large amount of smoke had accumulated. Sakura watched, almost in awe, as the smoke cleared revealing the bandits had escaped.

Sakura's eyes shifted to Kakashi, who was nearby, also watching the scene. Kakashi was suddenly on the branch above Sakura, a look in his eye that told Sakura that even Kakashi was starting to get annoyed with these thieves. They were definitely a little more cunning than they gave them credit for.

"Sorry, Sakura. It seems that my plan has failed. Let's go find Naruto and Temari now." Sakura merely nodded dumbly, and followed her sensei.

------

Temari took another blow directly in the face, hitting the ground and rolling a few feet, her body sending dust into the air. Blood trickled down a gash above her eye, and from her nose and mouth. She really was a mess; she had been too goddamn stubborn. She'd have to let Naruto step in now… there was no more time for her to fight. Now she was just getting herself hurt…

That's when she heard the footsteps. Slow, leisurely strides they were. Not the footsteps of a worried Naruto; like she had hoped. No, this was more like a predator stalking up on its prey, getting ready to pounce. Temari merely rolled over onto her stomach and tried to use her hands to sit herself up, but her muscles gave in.

Kumori lifted a foot to slam down on the back of Temari's head, but Naruto blocked it. But something was different about this Naruto. Something very, very different… almost demonic. The effect was Kumori stumbling backwards at the change in Naruto's chakra. This wasn't the pipsqueak who had come in earlier claiming to be a hero.

"Don't touch her." Naruto growled out through clenched teeth. Kumori noticed with a bit of horror that the kid's power level rose dramatically as he delivered punch and kicks, all of which Kumori was hardly able to dodge. But there was one he couldn't have possibly seen until the fist had already done its damage with a sickening crack.

Kumori noted dully that his nose was bleeding rather excessively, and the crack was probably the sound of his nose breaking. But he had no longer to dwell, two more were approaching. The two from before. He had to leave now, as things stood he didn't stand a chance. Retreat was the only option. He disappeared so suddenly it left Naruto a little stunned, even in his demonic-like state.

Slowly the Kyuubi's chakra shrunk back. That's when he realized something. Something terribly important. Temari.

He turned around so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash. He traveled quickly to Temari's side, and rolled her over so she was laying on her back. Her eyes were closed, her chest hardly rising and falling, as if she was asleep. He checked her pulse, it wasn't far from normal, he noted with some relief. He had truly been worried about the Suna girl. She had put up quite a fight for a long time; he had to admit she had some stamina, and some good willpower.

He smiled down at her, she must be exhausted… He was just about ready to lift her up when he saw two familiar faces.

"Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei!"

------

"So they got away?" Naruto questioned, as if trying to get things right. Sakura and Kakashi were talking in hushed voices as Temari slept soundly nearby. The nighttime noises seemed muted, the dark sky looking over the land.

"Yes." Sakura confirmed with a nod. This mission was becoming far too much trouble for it's own good. They were just about out of good ideas; the bandits were extremely tricky. They had to have some ninja help; that thought was encouraged by Kumori's strength and the bandits' disappearing acts.

Naruto had been oddly quiet about the whole thing; he hadn't even explained what he was doing, or even how Temari got injured. Which Sakura took as odd, Naruto was the type to brag about his amazing exploits, but lately he hadn't been the same Uzumaki Naruto that she knew. She was starting to get worried about the blonde haired loudmouth… all he had said was that they had gotten in a fight with a guy named Kumori, but nothing more.

They were all interrupted by a groan and a sleepy voice asking, "…what happened…?"

------

Tsunade was working on one of the many pieces of paperwork she was expected to do. Fuck, if she knew it involved this much paperwork she would have told that perverted old man to go to hell and find someone else. Oh how she hated the paperwork. She wouldn't have done any of it if Shizune hadn't been glaring holes in her back for half the day—it was hard to avoid it when someone was constantly nagging.

That's when she found a letter from Kakashi, delivered by one of his faithful summon dogs. She sighed and took the letter and opened it with flourish, mentally thinking the silver haired Jounin for this interruption of her paperwork.

She raised an eyebrow at the contents of the letter. Kumori, with obvious shinobi training… was he serious? No last name at all? She sighed, and wrote a quick reply, giving it to the dog. Kakashi owed her big time.

"Shizune!"

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A/N: Another chapter DONE. Now I have to work on that ObitoRin one-shot. G'bye.


	6. I'll Protect You

A/N: I'm baaack. And I still haven't finished that ObitoRin one-shot. I will someday.

Thanks to the reviewers- pgwchaos, Malkloc, Skuld's Sentaro 6, The Anonymous 1, nonengel, and Naru-Rin.

On with the story!

Struggle 

**Chapter 6 **

-START-

Temari groaned again, placing her hand on her forehead, and sat up slightly, only to be a little dizzy. Her head throbbed uncomfortably, making her head like a fog; she couldn't quite recall exactly what had happened… She pushed off the light blanket that was covering her body, she felt extremely hot; not a comfortable hot either; it was uncomfortable burning sensation from the inside out.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura was immediately by her side. She removed Temari's hand in order to test the warmth of her body. She was a bit surprised to feel that Temari was quite warm; above normal levels.

Temari thought for a moment, trying to summon up the right word for her situation, "…nauseated." She said after some silence. Was that the right word to use? She thought so, "…and hot." Naruto popped up behind Sakura, his blue orbs looking down at Temari with vivid concern.

"Is she all right, Sakura-chan?" He asked, peering down at Temari curiously; like a child. Temari almost smiled through her condition, the genuine concern on his face was a bit…what was the word for it? Temari couldn't pull it out because her head gave a particularly nasty throb.

Temari moaned and leaned down, "This is going to be a long day…"

-------

Tsunade groaned as she looked at her desk cluttered with papers. "Damn you Kakashi!" She hissed out to the empty room. Kakashi's request involved just as much paperwork as her normal duties. "Fuck this—"

"Tsuande-sama…" Shizune's voice warned, from behind. There was the sound of a fist hitting a palm, and Shizune's face was dark and her eyes red as she came up behind Tsunade.

Tsunade sweatdropped nervously.

-------

After an hour and a half, Temari was now able to stand up for short intervals without feeling dizzy. However, her head still throbbed and her body still felt heated. She had downed quite a few glasses of water in an attempt to cool down, but nothing was working thus far; so she had began avoiding all contact with the other members of the group, they didn't need to worry any more about her condition than they already were.

Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi had been spending Temari's recovery time as planning and caring for the injured member, no matter how much she said she was okay. Temari coughed and pounded her chest lighting with her fist, and when she opened her eyes again after coughing, she noticed all focus on her. She resisted the urge to glare heatedly at them, and turned to the other side of the clearing.

They were wasting time here. The bandits were moving quickly, and they were stranded here, all because she was injured. She slammed her fist into the tree next to her, and she could almost feel each pair of eyes on her. She pulled her knuckles away from the tree trunk and cleaned off the splinters with a brush of her fingers. Small fragments of wood stuck up out of her skin; causing small pricks of pain in the said areas. She sighed and plucked out the annoying slivers, and turned towards the rest of the group.

"We have to get moving."

------

Tsunade snored loudly, head on the desk with her hair bedraggled. Papers were strewn across the desk's surface, books open on random pages, and some of the books had small markings and notes on the sides. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic; oblivious to the incoming danger.

"Tsunade-sama…" A dangerous voice warned. Slowly Tsunade awoke with a groggy sigh; she turned to look at Shizune, who seemed to be more irritable than usual. Tsunade wiped the ink off of her cheek and gathered up papers and books. "Where are you going…?" The voice had lost its intimidation; and now it was just a casual curiosity bubbling from pale pink lips.

"To find somewhere less distracting to work." The more work there was to be done, the less motivated she was. If she wanted to help Kakashi and his team, she had to get out of there. And she definitely wasn't telling Shizune where she was going; the secondary purpose of finding a less distracting place to work was getting away from Shizune and her scary mood-swings.

Shizune stood with her mouth slightly agape as she watched the 5th Hokage leave the room. It was too late before she realized the purpose in the Hokage's departure; causing her to hold her fist up in anger, a vein popping out of the back of her hand.

Tsunade found the nearest bar with ease. Settling herself at a table she opened one of the books and used her index finger to search through it. She hadn't worked this much since she did Lee's surgery three years ago…what a drag… She pulled out her notes and looked over them. Nothing. No records, no birth certificate, no identification, no nothing. Either Kumori was a fake name or--…

She paused.

She looked everywhere except _one _place. She couldn't believe it took so long to figure out, it was almost a no brainer. But she had never considered the possibility, and she had a feeling that nobody else had either.

She hadn't checked those listed under deceased.

------

After awhile of nonstop convincing, the group had continued on. Sakura was looking through a small booklet, trying to determine which place to go to next. Kakashi was reading his usual Icha Icha Paradise, while Naruto was walking slightly behind Temari, so he'd be the first to detect any abnormalities. Temari was concentrating on maintaining the slow pace, while battling slight dizziness that she associated with having a minor concussion. She assumed that Sakura also had the same assumption, but neither females said anything.

Sakura merely understood Temari's desire to not become a burden. Sakura herself had the same problems awhile ago, and she respected Temari's determination. The will of both of the girls had won out over Sakura's medical side, and Sakura remained silent about the worse points of Temari's condition—the males of the group would trust the medical nin.

For Sakura's sacrifice, Temari was grateful. She was already being more of a burden than help; therefore defiling the original idea. She, however, didn't believe in apologizing for her lack of help. She would work harder.

Kakashi turned to the group, "I think we should rest for a little while." His one exposed eye looked at each person in turn, but lingered on Temari for a longer period of time, "We all could use some rest after the ordeals of the last few days."

The blonde Suna nin felt complied to argue, "The more time we waste the harder it will be to catch the thieves!" She protested, digging one heel into the dirt pathway below her feet. Her whole body was rigid with her rebellious instincts; she was stubborn to say the least.

"It'll be easier to catch them after a good night's rest." Sakura interjected. Her medical side was winning over this time; she had made a quick decision that rest would be best for all of them—none of them were immortal. But there was no doubt that Temari felt herself responsible for them wanting to rest.

"I'm fine!" Temari snapped at the pink haired girl. The medic frowned deeply, her green eyes sparking intelligently, even as they narrowed. She didn't take being yelled at kindly.

"A minor concussion is not the definition of 'fine', Temari-san." She said with a dull tone to her voice. She waited for the yelling in the general direction a certain male blonde.

"NAAAANIIIII?" Right on schedule, "Temari! You—"

Temari turned on Naruto with a hard glare, causing them both to shrink back. Temari because of another hard throb, and Naruto because of an icy glare. Sakura and Kakashi exchanged glances, and with a silent nod they both agreed.

"We're resting and that's final." Sakura said, pointing to a place on the map, "We can stay at an inn here. It's not very far from here either." She turned back, and started walking, Kakashi following her. Defiance reared up inside of Temari, but she held it back. If she had gotten that beaten up by one thief, imagine what would happen if she tried to go after them all by herself. She'd be lucky if she lived.

------

That night, the rooms were split up—Sakura and Temari in one, Kakashi and Naruto in the other. Sakura sat on the bed cross-legged, facing the older girl who was also sitting cross-legged on her bed, which was directly across from Sakura's.

"What's your problem?" Temari asked irritably. Ever since the beating, she had been experiencing migraines. It wasn't a pleasant experience; the sensitivity to light and sound were getting to her, making her more irritable than usual. She wasn't a stranger to pain, but something about migraines was worse than getting stabbed multiple times.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked, avoiding Temari's rude behavior. She gazed at the older girl with an analyzing look.

"Oh, just dandy." She responded sarcastically, "Never felt better in my life." She stood up and began walking around a little to stretch her abnormally tight muscles. This mission wasn't doing anything good for her health. She'd probably have to have a nice, long vacation after this one.

"You shouldn't ignore advice when it's given to you."

Temari rolled her eyes at the pink haired girl. Her level of authority—if anything—was lower than even Temari's. She was in no way compelled to obey any of Sakura's 'advice', prized student of Tsunade or not. She was just another spoiled brat trained by a great ninja; raised in a peace-ridden country. Her level of irritability was rising by the moment. "I'm going out for fresh air." She mumbled with an angered tone. She left no room for argument by leaving the room immediately after her announcement.

She took a few turns and ended up at the stairwell. With a sigh, she began her ascent. The more she moved, she discovered—and the closer she got to fresh air—the more she wanted to climb those stairs. By the time she had reached the roof, she was pumped. She strode confidently out onto the roof, and leaned on the railing, letting the wind caress her face.

What would she have been like if she had been normal?

It was a question that often rose when she thought too much. Would she be the same way if she had not been a ninja? If she hadn't been the daughter of the Kazekage, maybe Gaara could have led a better life… Maybe their parents would still be alive, and be different than they were.

Maybe.

She tried to imagine herself in the place of the endless amounts of pedestrians, doing normal, routine errands. Going to school, getting a non-risk job… It seemed boring.

She sighed again, the headache was gone, she noted with some relief. She turned, knowing full well someone was there, "Hello Naruto." She leaned back on the railing behind her. There was quite a perilous drop behind it; but she wasn't afraid of heights. Nah, she was a ninja of the great Hidden Sand. She wasn't afraid of a little drop.

"Hi." He came and stood next to Temari, folding his arms and leaning against the railing, looking down. "I was thinking…" He paused, and Temari shifted. She was now looking below with him, "About earlier, during the fight with Kumori." He sounded serious for once, his blue eyes clear; not glazed over with false enthusiasm.

"What of it?" Temari asked, wrapping her slender fingers around the top of the railing. Her normal atmosphere of defiance and uneasiness was reduced to nothing but a serene appearance.

"Why didn't you let me step in? It could have prevented a lot of things."

This made Temari sigh for the third time; "I wanted to do it myself." The whole issue had been completely egotistical, if she was going to go down, she wanted to go down with style.

"Don't do that again." His voice was laced with worry. Temari almost giggled, but she settled for a small smile. "Sorry to burst your bubble Naruto, but I need to protect myself."

"Don't worry, Temari, I'll protect you."

-END-

A/N: I would like to give special thanks to those who review constantly; like Ranko and Uozumi, to name a couple. Don't forget to review. Come on, it'll hardly take any time out of your life; if you have enough time to read, you can review. It's a simple concept, really.


	7. Sakura Saku

A/N: DO NOT WORRY. I will be posting another chapter within a couple of days, I just wanted to whip out one of these real quick.

SAKURA'S POV.

----

I would never know how long I had been in love with Naruto, or how long after Sasuke-kun's disappearance I started to respect and love him as a person. While Sasuke-kun was here, I had forgotten to be a ninja, but now that he was gone, I felt like a kunoichi again. It was like, when he was here, he took a part of me, he took my strength, because in my childish fantasies, he was always going to be there to defeat the bad guys for me.

But now, Naruto was slowly being taken away from me by some female ninja from Suna. I'm the only one that seems even the least bit concerned, as I know Kakashi notices just as much as I do, but he seems to _approve_. How annoying is that? It makes me want to scream and shout, but I know I can't. I owe it to Naruto for all the years I've been a complete bitch towards him.

Confession Number One: I knew Naruto was in love with me from the very beginning. Now I hate myself for not taking him while I had him. I knew, but I was too busy with Sasuke-kun. I knew how much he loved me, exactly, when he couldn't get over breaking his promise to me. He's been miserable ever since.

I can't ever imagine watching him walk away from me. I'm losing him quickly, but I can't do a thing about it. I won't, because he's miserable the way he is. He deserves happiness, even if I can't provide it.

See Ino? Who's the selfish bitch now?

----

A/N: Once again, I'm tying another chapter as we speak. Do not fret.


	8. And All Was Dark

A/N: Here we go. Back on track.

----

Sakura was curled up underneath the covers when Temari came back down from the roof. If she would have rolled over, she would have seen the light pink brushed across Temari's cheekbones, but she didn't even acknowledge Temari's presence in the room. As much as she knew it'd be a bad thing to be in such an argument during such a desperate stage, she couldn't help it.

Temari got into her bed, and turned off the lamp, causing the room to plunge into darkness. With a sigh, Sakura dropped the kunai she had been holding in her hands under the covers and let it drop to the floor. Ah, finally, a taste of reality.

--

The next morning, Sakura was the last one to crawl out of the hotel room, too late to understand what was going on as Temari argued desperately with both males. Sakura came up and stared expressionlessly at them, Inner Sakura raging beneath the surface.

"We need to continue on now. The longer we wait, the farther ahead they're going to get. I wouldn't even trust the pattern we had defined earlier, yeah sure it worked once, but they have to know we found it out. We need to track them before they change course!" She didn't even look a bit flustered, even as she argued with two men who seemed to be throwing her ideas out the window.

"It's no use going after anybody if we're not all rested up. You're not the only one injured, Temari-san." Kakashi said, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

Temari shrugged it off roughly, but glanced at both Sakura and Naruto, who looked fairly tired and ready for another day off. She glowered, and fell silent, her gaze on the top of her shoe.

--

They could waste all the time they wanted, as far as Temari was concerned, but she had to continue tracking these "bandits", this whole mission was getting out of hand. She paused in her running to lean against a tree, not quite out of breath but feeling nauseated. It was a strange thing, even a day after the fight, a day after having her head bashed into the ground, she still felt the dizziness and nausea.

She was also getting clumsy. An annoying condition where she could barely run and not trip over a cliché tree root or small, sturdy brush. But that wasn't the worst part of it. The worst part was the headaches. Oh the headaches.

They came and went quickly, but when the came, they hurt, like a sludge hammer against the sides of her skull. Or sometimes, it'd be like a knife, twisting and turning inside of her smooth flesh. She knew she couldn't _fight _them in her condition, but she could follow them just as well. They had to stop sometimes; she'd get rest. But she'd have to make sure she was up before the rest of them.

She rubbed her temples, and sighed, wondering how long it'd take for the rest of the team to notice she was gone. However long that would take, she knew it'd take even less time to figure out where she had gone.

And thus, she had to move quickly.

--

Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura stared at the empty bedroom belonging to Sakura and Temari. Temari's side of the room was striped clean of her belongings, and the bed made neatly, which tipped them off that her absence was something of her own will. Naruto was staring at the bed with an unreadable expression, causing Sakura to stare over at him with utmost concern.

It almost made her sick; the way she had ran off like that. She had made so much progress with Naruto, made him so much _happier _and suddenly she just ran off. No notice, no nothing. It was almost like Sasuke all over again. The pain was probably almost unbearable to him, the feeling of being betrayed all over again. She knew what this was like. She knew what it was like to lose the one you loved.

But unlike Sasuke, Temari was easily retrievable. She couldn't get too far with a concussion as bad as hers—you don't get your head smashed into the ground a couple dozen times and walk away with no problems. She'd have to rest. A lot. And Sakura couldn't imagine that she'd make it too far in her current condition.

Kakashi sighed with absolutely no enthusiasm compared to his usual upbeat attitude. He knew full well what would happen if Temari disappeared while underneath his command—not only would he be punished by Tsunade-sama, Konoha would probably lose a lot of it's connections with Suna. Connections they couldn't afford to lose in their time of lack military power. Tsunade-sama was already mission-happy as is, they didn't need to increase that "happiness".

"Well, we should get started." Kakashi told the two younger ninjas, turning away from the bedroom, "I'll check out. You two get started without me."

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances, then nodded, both disappearing in one large puff of smoke.

--

Jiraiya sighed as he left Tsunade's office. This mission should have been taken by ANBU in the first place—not Team Kakashi, even with a Suna Jounin (who were notorious for being stronger than most of Konoha's Jounin, which may be an effect of living in peace for far too long before Orochimaru sent the Hidden Villages into a tangle).

Now he was sent off to fix her mistakes because she overlooked a crucial detail in the job description. Not that it was entirely her fault, she did a lot of research before she could have made that connection, but for now, all he could do was hope that Kakashi had taken a day off since their last encounter with the bandits.

And that he wasn't too late.

--

God how Temari hated her condition at this point. She moved slower than ever before, having to stop and either lean against a tree or sit down depending on the severity of her dizziness. She wasn't too concerned about it at the moment, moving was better for it than sitting down, she could go to sleep and never wake up.

But that wasn't the main issue at hand. The issue at hand was that the bandits were _nearby _and she couldn't do a thing about it. It was almost like they knew she was there, taunting her, always just out of reach like showing a steak to a dog on a chain. Not that she'd ever admit to ever being effected by such taunting; after all she was a ninja of iron will.

But not while a jackhammer was pounding her skull.

With a sigh she pushed herself off the tree and went on, and she knew the party just out of reach was doing the same.

--

Naruto delicately picked up the Suna headband that had been lying around in the dirt. It could be Temari's—fallen out of her pack or left behind on accident, if she had taken it off to try to pass as a normal woman. He rubbed his thumbs against the cool metal, staring at it for longer than he knew was necessary. He was trying to imagine was was going on inside of that Kunoichi's head.

He clutched it in his hand, and the rage welled up inside him. She wasn't going to make him break another promise. After all, he had said he'd protect her right?

And he'd do everything within his power to do just that.

Sakura stared at Naruto's shaking form, as he stared down at the headband clutched in his hand. It must hurt, for him to know that every second they wasted here was a risk, but having to stop anyway to wait for Kakashi-sensei's directions.

Finally, Kakashi spoke up, "This way." He took off, blurring out for a moment, and the two followed him, darting behind him.

Temari couldn't have made it far.

--

Kumori was travelling slower, much slower than he was used to. It was kind of fun, knowing you were letting someone on, watching them try desperately to catch up, dangling their goal in front of their nose, and watch them try to grab it. It was surprisingly _fun_. He never really thought that he'd consider that type of sadistic torture _fun_ because of how boring it had seemed, just barely keeping out of their reach—kind of like a slow moving Keep Away game.

They stopped when she stopped, they continued when she continued. The thought of her current condition made him smile, of how much pain she must be in to keep up with them. But that was the part that made him anxious.

Why send someone as injured as her—and proven unable to take care of herself? It had to be some sort of trap that they were just barely tip-toeing around. They'd still have a chance even with all four them there, after all, only two of them were a worry—Hatake Kakashi and that kid with the weird chakra. The two girls could be disposed of fairly easily and quickly.

He sighed, almost disappointed it was about to end. "I guess we should take her out now." He mused aloud, causing everyone to stare blankly at him like deer in headlights. He rolled his eyes at their dumbfounded expressions, "The kunoichi, you idiots. The one that's been following us for miles."

The group exchanged glances before nodding.

--

Sakura stared ahead worriedly at Naruto's back. His chakra had been flaring up and returning to normal for awhile now. It was starting to worry her, the way he kept bouncing from a high to a normal, it was bound to exhaust him at some point, his body couldn't just keep taking that, blow after blow. Eventually it would break down, after all the human body wasn't really meant to release that much chakra in the first place anyway.

She saw Naruto pause ahead of them, standing rather still in the treetops, his gaze transfixed below. Sakura came to a rather harsh stop right next to him, but the branch below her didn't even shake. She looked down upon the scene, and winced.

--

"Ninpou Kamaitachi." Temari swung her fan again, but the wind strength amount was getting less and less as she continued on. It was getting rather annoying, the limitations her condition presented, and using up more chakra than necessary was just one of the more horrible ones.

Of course, along with splitting migraine came this incrediable _bad aim_. She didn't even think she got close to hitting him, but he seemed to humor her, and jump like he was dodging. It was awfully sadistic, the way he liked playing with her like this. He knew she'd never hit him, hell even she knew that.

Finally, she smoothly locked the fan into place into it's slim closed form. _'Why should I even try when I don't even get close to this guy. Every ninja is unfortunate enough to meet their match someday anyways. I was just really hoping I'd manage to become as old as Chiyo-sama and her brother…or even to the age of Tsunade.' _She let the fan drop to the ground and held up her hands.

"Nobody's coming. I came alone." She spoke with a slight rasping from the dry throat syndrome she seemed to be suffering from. She licked her lips and swallowed some saliva in desperate attempt to get rid of it.

"All the better then."

--

Sakura surveyed the scene with apathy. Blood was strewn across the grass, and a folded up fan was laying in the middle of it all. The only thing missing was the body of Temari, which she persumed was taken away from the scene. She glanced over at Naruto. _'How tragic for him…' _She thought, not letting her eyes stray away from Naruto's figure.

Naruto jumped down into the clearing, the Kyuubi spoke gently to him in his velvety voice. Although gentle, Naruto found he didn't like the words it was speaking to him; as he examined the place.

That happened to him sometimes. The random voice in the back of his head he knew had to belong the the Kyuubi. The alternative was believing himself to be entirely insane, with voices in his head telling him to do things. Not that an evil nine-tailed demon that was sealed inside of his stomach somehow talking to him inside his head was any better. But it made it seem just a little more normal.

He kicked a rock hard against a tree. The rock was big enough it caused a rather large crack in the trunk, causing the Kyuubi to chuckle. _'Shut up, kitsune…' _

_You first, kid. _

It didn't really talk that much, the Kyuubi. But when it did, it was hardly ever useful. It was like having a cousin come visit once a month with a rather large hammer that they used to pound against the side of your skull while he managed to annoy the hell out of you with abnoxious laughter at the same time.

_You need a therapist, has anyone ever told you that?_

So he wasn't mentally stable anymore, so what? Naruto sighed and sat down in the grass, paying no attention to the slick material that stained his clothes, skin, and even the grass beneath him. He knew Temari wasn't _dead_, they would have left something other than her fan behind, a warning or something.

Sakura approached him, slowly but confidently, "I'm sorry Naruto. We're too late." Naruto shook his head at her, causing her to sigh, "Naruto, there's nothing left here." She gestured around her, "There's blood. There's her fan. There's no body. They obviously fled with her body."

Naruto shook his head again, "She's alive. I can feel it."

Sakura glanced down at him, and the Kyuubi chuckled again, barely able to contain himself.

_You guys are better than mid-day soap operas. _

'Oh shut up already…' 

--

When Temari woke up, it was dark. Or it could have been a blind fold. She was too cold to notice or care, as her fingers expressed their deep protests at being half-way frozen to death. She flexed them slowly, and the joints popped, almost like she hadn't moved for a decade. She nimbly managed to to use her elbow to prop the rest of her body up, until she was leaning against a hard, cold wall behind her.

The darkness, she realized, was neither the sky nor a blindfold. It was just deep, dark nothingness. Her fingers desperately felt the ground beneath her, and she let out a breath in relief as she came contact with the rough surface.

'Where the hell is this?' She wiped some dried blood from the side of her head, and winced. 'Jeez, this is the second time this week. I'm going to have a big gaping scar on the side of my face if people keep deciding it's a good idea to KICK ME IN THE FUCKING HEAD.' She surprised herself by wincing at her own thoughts as it seemed to echo around her head and pound against the boundries. She let out a groan, and leaned her head against the wall behind her. She was almost frightened when she broke the silence, but it soon returned to a dull, eerie silence. 

--

A/N: I normally wouldn't have cut it off right here, but good lord, this took forever because of personal issues… x.x. Finally up though. Thank God. : D


	9. Something Has Got To Change

The darkness was…really dark. That was the only way Temari could describe it. Not only was it dark, it was _boring_ and rather _unchanging_. That was the creepy part—where in the hell did they stash her that had absolutely no sounds at all?

Did they plan on driving her insane with silence and complete and utter darkness? Well, she had only been conscious here for more or less than ten minutes and their plan was already working.

"I HATE YOU ALL!" She shouted at the darkness.

_Hate you all, hate you all, you all, you all, you all. _

Well the echo was no more comforting, she thought as she shakily got on her feet. She pressed her back against the wall and tentatively shifted sideways, testing the ground before she stepped. Each footstep made no noise against the ground, she noted carefully, as she continued her journey.

It had occurred to her she was in a basement, the only thing that prevented her from believing that was the ground beneath her was not concrete, as typical in basements, and there were no noises. No generators, no pipes, no footsteps upstairs. Complete and utter silence.

Although the chance she was underground was high. Very high.

She carefully inched her way forward, and blinked when she felt the floor go up, like a step. She followed it, and found a set of large stairs, and began her ascent. When she had gone up what she estimated fifteen or twenty steps, it cut off into a long space. She edged along the wall until she hit the opposite wall.

Feeling her hands across it, she felt a door jamb, and desperately she searched around for the doorknob. She grasped it firmly in her hand and turned it. It was locked, so she jingled it a little.

"Shit!" She shouted, kicking the door. Her head gave a nasty throb causing her to fall to the ground. She let out a string of curses and didn't bother getting up.

--

"_I'm sorry, we're too late."_ Sakura words were stuck in his head, even awhile after they had left her cherry lips.

"She shouldn't have gone off her own. As tragic as it is, she was dead the moment she decided to leave the team." Sakura said matter-of-factly. Naruto couldn't help but notice how _annoying_ she was when she was referring back to her Academy training. Rules of the ninja his ass…

"Shut up." Naruto said, gritting his teeth. Sakura looked at him, her green eyes widened in surprise at his harsh response to her rambling. He was still sitting amongst the blood that stained the area, his claws digging into his palms, letting his own blood run down his palms to mix with the blood on the ground.

Sakura glanced at Naruto, then at the blood that was flowing to mix with the blood on the ground. "…we'll need to move quickly if we hope to find her, alive or dead."

--

Jiraiya arrived at the place Kakashi and the others had been staying, only to be informed that they had checked out early that morning. _'Tsunade said that they'd be here… Kakashi hadn't said anything about leaving until tomorrow morning… something's changed…'_ He thought, as he walked back onto the streets.

Seeing a beautiful long haired woman, he got a cheesy smile on his face, "Kakashi can wait. Trusting them, they haven't done anything rash…" He said outloud to himself as he literally skipped after her.

--

Temari woke up some time later still on the floor. This time, she was not greeted by darkness, but by a surprising amount of light. She blinked, and waited for her eyes to adjust before checking the source, which was a lightbulb that hung perilously on the ceiling from a long electrical wire.

Blinking again, she managed to sit up and fully examine the room. It was large and open, with a high ceiling. It was drafty, along with a cold, damp atmosphere that wasn't diminished by the light. It was completely empty except for the stairwell she was currently sitting on, and there were no windows, no other doors.

'_Ventilation,'_ She thought, and quickly ran down the steps. After thoroughly searching the room, she was alarmed to find no ventilation shafts at all, _'Either they plan on suffocating me, or they don't plan on keeping me here long…'_ She glanced around the room, then said out loud to herself, "The room is large enough though, I shouldn't be too worried about air. And the door isn't completely sealed around the edges, some air can get in from there…" But besides lack of oxygen, radon could escape from the Earth's crust and rise into the floor, if she was indeed in a basement, or underground.

But she wouldn't think about that. Radon was pretty by location, even if she was in a basement or underground, the chances of the radon collecting in a deadly amount was slim, unless she was sitting above a natural pocket…

She blinked and wiped the blood off her fingers onto the front of her kimono. It wasn't pretty, but it sure as hell was practical in essence, because as far as she could tell, she could be here for a long, long time.

---

Some time had past before Temari began hearing the noises. The roar of something that would have probably been deafening if she had been covered by a nice thick layer of _dirt._

"WHY?!" She screamed out. It tore at her throat, and she fell silent as the echoes screamed back at her. She had taken to talking to herself outloud now, anything to distract herself from the silence that surrounded her. It could have been days since she had first woken, but there was no way to tell. She sleep when she needed to, and she had this aching need to go to the bathroom. She didn't even bother trying to hide the tear streaks that had appeared down her dirty cheeks.

She practically jumped to her feet as the door was thrown open, "I'm sorry you were thrown into this, Temari-san."

---

It had been months since the capture on that fateful mission. She wouldn't ever forget the sinking disappointment that the face she had seen in the doorway of that hell wasn't the one she had wanted to see the most.

And despite the fact that she was now residing in Konoha for her… issues, she didn't see him at all. Ever. It had made her…different.

She was residing in Konoha because of their therapy programs. After a few weeks back from the mission, Gaara sent her away to receive therapeutic help after the ones in Suna had failed…

She stripped down to nothing and slipped into the shower, _'not that they help…'_ she thought as she adjusted the water temperature. She turned the knob all the way to the left so the prickly hot spikes plummeted her back, stinging and stabbing her delicate flesh. She didn't turn on any cold, and it wasn't because it felt good. Hell, it didn't even feel _bad_. That was the problem.

She was completely and utterly numb, feeling nothing. Gaara didn't see her fit to perform her duties in her current condition…and she'd do as she was told.

That's what a ninja was.

---

"Why don't you go visit her?" Sakura asked, staring into the blue orbs that belonged to a certain blonde haired loudmouth. He merely shrugged at her.

He wouldn't tell her that the only reason he hadn't gone to visit Temari was the fact he was so _ashamed_ of the way he wasn't able to figure out where she was at, to be the first face she saw when she was rescued. Ero-Sannin took that chance from him…he couldn't face her, not now, not ever. Not while the shame was still there.

It was another promise broken.

"She misses you."

"Did she tell you that?"

"Yes." Sakura hesitated. Temari hadn't actually said anything about Naruto since she had gotten here. It gave her a sense that she was guilty for this; the way they were acting towards each other. They avoided each other like the plague and completely ignored the existence of the other. For once, Inner Sakura and Sakura were in mutual agreement.

"No she didn't."

"Okay, so she didn't." Sakura blurted, frustrated, "But she was _thinking _it. Do you think you can just avoid her forever? It's going to kick you in the ass someday!"

"Will you just be quiet, Sakura? You don't understand anything!"

Sakura gritted her teeth, "Bullshit!" She held Naruto up by the small turtle-neck collar he had donned after turning fifteen, "Sasuke leaving affected me in a way it _didn't _affect you. And guess what? It _hurts _Naruto! You can't run around leading on girls then completely ignoring their existence! _It fucking hurts_."

"It'll be better for her in the long run." Naruto told her, taken aback by her sudden use of force. He'd never understand girls…

"Like hell it will. You practically traumatized her—she attends therapy everyday! It's not for _injuries_ like you think, it's for fucking_ emotional problems_." She empthasized, "She'll be attending therapy for a long time. And by the looks of it, she's never going to heal, and it'll be all your fault. Something needs to change, Naruto! And it needs to change _now, _before it's too late." She didn't know why she was pushing this so hard, after all this was her chance, her one chance to take what she wanted. But she knew she it wasn't for her.

"You expect me to—"

"I expect you to at least make an _effort _to be with her!" Sakura said, cutting him off quickly, "She'll never forgive you, Naruto. _I _won't be able to forgive you. Forget about your almighty pride for once in your life and get off your lazy ass—"

"So that's what I am? I'm _lazy_?" Sakura stopped at his interruption. He was now staring at her, no longer willing to let her have the upperhand, "I'm not lazy, Sakura. You don't understand what went on there. You can't understand."

"What don't I understand?"

Naruto just shook his head.

---

Kakashi sighed as he looked down at his two bickering team members. The upside of this whole thing was that neither of them noticed he was late, and instead focused all of their energies taking it out on each other. But that also came with an downside; the fact that they no longer worked well as a team while they were arguing like this. But it wasn't like Tsunade-sama could spare them for a week to have them resolve their differences, and Temari was out of comission from now until the Earth implodes on itself…

"Sakura, Naruto, that's enough for today. We have few minor errands to finish then you can have the rest of the afternoon to argue. I would suggest that you two resolve your differences as soon as possible, though, Tsunade-sama won't be happy if you two can't work effectively together." Kakashi hopped down off the roof and landed next to Sakura, who turned to him and nodded, but not before casting Naruto a particularly nasty glare.

_What did you do to that one? _

'_Have you not been paying attention?' _ Naruto asked, annoyed. It had been awhile since the Kyuubi had said anything, so hopefully he'd be sastisfied for another few months after this.

_Even soap operas get boring when you watch the same one over and over._

'_Don't mess with me today, Kyuubi.' _

_Oooh, so frightening, Whiskers. _

'_WHISKERS?!' _

There was some deep laughter that obviously came from the Kyuubi before his head returned to silence. Naruto sighed aloud, and followed the rest of his team. Those errands weren't going to finish themselves, after all.

---

It'd been a long time, since he had seen the gates of Konoha. His dark eyes narrowed at the sight of them, so vulnerable and unprotected to the outlandish powers that could cause it's demise. He knew that Konoha wasn't to be underestimated, but neither was he. Not with his new powers, his new abilities…his new life.

His eyes narrowed even farther as he felt a certain pining, a need to be within the safety of the walls, to be held in the cradle known as peace. He had grown up there, after all. Born and raised as a Konoha shinobi…

He ran his fingers along the Oto symbol that was carved into the metal plate of his headband. Had he lost his way? Maybe this wasn't the greatest path he could have chosen, but it wasn't the worst, he supposed. After all, there could be fates much worse than this one. Much worse.

But now wasn't a time for remorse. He was too far along for any such thoughts. Uchiha Sasuke sent one last longing glance at the gates before disappearing into the darkness to return to Orochimaru. He would be back, and next time, that blonde idiot wouldn't be alive.

----

Merry Christmas everyone: DDDD


End file.
